An official ceremony of presenting new findings discovered at Ulug Depe excavation cite was held at Ak Bugdai national museum of Turkmenistan yesterday. Ulug Depe is a grandiose archaeological monument of the bronze and iron ages situated in Kaahka district near the village of Dushak. The findings feature a set of house-ware with gorgeous geometric ornament and specimen of stone figures with pictures of goddess of fertility.

As the Ashgabat correspondent of Turkmenistan.ru reports, the exhibits were presented by professor Olivier Leconte who is heading the international archaeological expedition of the National Department for Preservation, Studying and Restoration of History and Culture Monuments of Turkmenistan jointly with the French Center of Archaeological Excavations.

This expedition has been carrying out excavation works at Ulug Depe for seven years now. French archaeologists together with specialists of the state historical-cultural preserve Abiverd and archaeologists from other countries, including students of the Paris University, not only excavate but also methodize, recreate and place in museums ancient findings, the Turkmen State News Service (TDH) reports.

"It is a pleasure for me to present our modest findings to this unique museum whose face look serves as a symbol of ancient roots of land cultivation on the blessed Turkmen soil. Five thousand years ago, at the crack of dawn of civilization, your ancestors masterly cultivated this land, grew white wheat, the grains of which have survived by miracle. They were first found at the excavation cite of Anau hills, and now we have found similar specimen at Ulug Depe, 150 km from here. Besides, we hand over to the museum the unique specimen of ancient grape grains. Ulug Depe occupies over 20 hectares of land and rise to some 30 meters above the surface. This monument aged nearly 5 thousand years is part of a system of large settlements of ancient farmers who lived in the foothills of Kopetdag such as Kara Depe, Namazga Depe, Altyn Depe, Yylyny Depe and many other, less known but no less important monuments for the history of Turkmenistan and the entire Central Asia," professor Leconte said.